Just reinstalled Windows 10 64 bit and it doesn't see my secondary HDD

[Aricil]

Okay, so I just reinstalled and put Windows on my SSD like normal. Now, normally, I would go into Disk Management and click on Disk 0, hit New Spanned Volume, hit next and it would be good. But here's the issue that I've never had before: it doesn't let me hit next. It shows the amount of storage it has in MB, but the actual next button is greyed out. I'm unsure of how to proceed. Thanks for any help.

[fohat.digs]

I am starting to get nervous. At our house we have 2 desktops and 2 laptops that have been running Windows 10 since the "free upgrade to previous owners" a few years ago. I would love to re-format them and start over with clean installs, but I am afraid that some part of it won't work.

My recollection is that both laptops had Windows 7 pre-installed, and that I have one Windows 7 and one Windows 8 disc for the desktops. And I see the Windows 8 disc on the bookshelf, but I may not even be able to find the Windows 7 original. I am pretty sure that I have the product code numbers, if that is enough.

 

[tp4tissue]

I am starting to get nervous. At our house we have 2 desktops and 2 laptops that have been running Windows 10 since the "free upgrade to previous owners" a few years ago. I would love to re-format them and start over with clean installs, but I am afraid that some part of it won't work.

My recollection is that both laptops had Windows 7 pre-installed, and that I have one Windows 7 and one Windows 8 disc for the desktops. And I see the Windows 8 disc on the bookshelf, but I may not even be able to find the Windows 7 original. I am pretty sure that I have the product code numbers, if that is enough.

 

fohat...

Ur a billion years old..

At most you use MS-word, and maybe spreadsheets, and maybe watch some pr0nhub.


There are No features that could arrive on win10 within the 10-15 years you have left on this planet, which you would actually be required to use..

At this point, you really need to focus on diabetes and heart disease..

Given your current mass, these problems are imminent and  the ONLY solution is to go 100% Plant-based..

Windoz 7 4ever.. !!

[Leslieann]

Aracil,
Windows doesn't do spanned drives on the boot disk well and with Windows10, MS removed quite a few features, that's probably one of them. It's also a bad idea to do for data safety reasons, it's a step above RAID0, but not by much. You can remap your user directories to a second drive without spanning, which is a better option as it leaves data intact and you always know what drive that data is stored on.



Fohat,
My understanding is you can re-use your old key and it will take it, but I don't put a lot of faith in that method. If it fails, you're kind of out of luck without calling them and talking to someone, something I despise. It's a computer, why are we having a human intervene? Just seems stupid.  What you want to do is look online for Windows key code extractors which will tell you the actual code you are using. This makes it far more safe as you have the exact windows key code. Write it down, keep it somewhere safe.

That said, when I setup used systems for people I try to use Win8.1 when I can, though some do go for Win10. You can still use Win7 or 8.0, however support for them is already started to slide, manufacturers simply want it gone because it means less drivers to support. Besides being newer, Windows 8.1 uses the same driver system as Win10 so there will be longer ongoing support for it. Personally, I prefer the Win10 interface and underlying system, however Win10 brings along so many privacy and update issues I simply refuse to recommend it so long as 8.1 is a viable option. Ignore the "WIN7 forever" crowd, people did the same with XP. You can't even (easily) install Win7 (or 8 for that matter) on a new Intel or AMD system.

[fohat.digs]

That said, when I setup used systems for people I try to use Win8.1 when I can

I have 1 copy of the full retail 8.1 but that is not adequate for multiple installs any more, as I understand it.

A friend in the the IT world told me some years ago that you could usually get away with up to 5 installs off the same disc, but I doubt seriously whether that is true with the upgrade pathway.

[Leslieann]

Supposedly that still works.
Could always image the system and try, if it doesn't work, just put the old image back on.

Probably plenty of people with old licenses you could also use at this point. I usually have a few laying around, though they are often low end, beta program or oem.

[Kavik]

Supposedly that still works.
Could always image the system and try, if it doesn't work, just put the old image back on.

Probably plenty of people with old licenses you could also use at this point. I usually have a few laying around, though they are often low end, beta program or oem.

I second the idea of imaging the current disk so that you can revert back if needed. I have used Macrium Reflect Free quite a few times with success; although, I sometimes oddly hit a blue screen within the first couple boots after restoring an image, and then it is fine.

[Deefenestrate]

Have you tried Windows 3.0?

[Leslieann]

Have you tried Windows 3.0?

Have you ever even touched a Win3x computer?

[xtrafrood]

I'm not 100% certain but I think Windows 10 looks to the motherboard for hardware identification. If it behaves like Windows 7 (I changed from HDD to SSD and back to HDD with win7 using same key). The last CPU upgrade I did needed a reinstall of Windows 10. That was fun. Oh the pleasures of installing 3.1 on a Compaq 4/75cx via diskettes.. it had a build in trackball so.. I guess it was alright. I would definitely back up all data (ntfs) regardless.

[Leslieann]

I'm not 100% certain but I think Windows 10 looks to the motherboard for hardware identification. If it behaves like Windows 7 (I changed from HDD to SSD and back to HDD with win7 using same key). The last CPU upgrade I did needed a reinstall of Windows 10. That was fun. Oh the pleasures of installing 3.1 on a Compaq 4/75cx via diskettes.. it had a build in trackball so.. I guess it was alright. I would definitely back up all data (ntfs) regardless.

The system works similar to Win7's hardware ID, though possibly even more strict.

3.1 install wasn't too bad at 6 floppies, OS2, which I think was the last OS you could get on floppy, was 29.

[xtrafrood]

I'm not 100% certain but I think Windows 10 looks to the motherboard for hardware identification. If it behaves like Windows 7 (I changed from HDD to SSD and back to HDD with win7 using same key). The last CPU upgrade I did needed a reinstall of Windows 10. That was fun. Oh the pleasures of installing 3.1 on a Compaq 4/75cx via diskettes.. it had a build in trackball so.. I guess it was alright. I would definitely back up all data (ntfs) regardless.

The system works similar to Win7's hardware ID, though possibly even more strict.

3.1 install wasn't too bad at 6 floppies, OS2, which I think was the last OS you could get on floppy, was 29.

My god, I'll have to give OS2 a try if I ever find myself with another 4/75cx.

[fohat.digs]

My god, I'll have to give OS2 a try if I ever find myself with another 4/75cx.

I have a nice original OS/2 (desktop with 3.5" floppy, no idea what size hard drive) which has not been tested in years but I feel pretty good that it still works properly. It is a 486 as I recall. I would sell it cheap but it is very heavy and shipping would be absurdly expensive unless somebody wanted to pick it up in the Atlanta area.

[JP]

I am starting to get nervous. At our house we have 2 desktops and 2 laptops that have been running Windows 10 since the "free upgrade to previous owners" a few years ago. I would love to re-format them and start over with clean installs, but I am afraid that some part of it won't work.

My recollection is that both laptops had Windows 7 pre-installed, and that I have one Windows 7 and one Windows 8 disc for the desktops. And I see the Windows 8 disc on the bookshelf, but I may not even be able to find the Windows 7 original. I am pretty sure that I have the product code numbers, if that is enough.

If you just want to do a fresh install download the Windows Media Creation tool which downloads the installation media and lets you create a bootable usb stick to install the os. This path is recommended since the media has grown beyond the capacity of single layer dvd-r's. So if you have Windows 10 already and it is activated you have a digital entitlement which follows your hardware. I've performed complete reinstalls on multiple occasions.

[fohat.digs]

So if you have Windows 10 already and it is activated you have a digital entitlement which follows your hardware.

That is reassuring.

One thing, though, is that I might want to replace my boot drive at the same time. If everything else is the same, do you think that it would accept the fresh new hard drive?

[xtrafrood]

My god, I'll have to give OS2 a try if I ever find myself with another 4/75cx.

I have a nice original OS/2 (desktop with 3.5" floppy, no idea what size hard drive) which has not been tested in years but I feel pretty good that it still works properly. It is a 486 as I recall. I would sell it cheap but it is very heavy and shipping would be absurdly expensive unless somebody wanted to pick it up in the Atlanta area.

The shipping alone is pretty much why I'd limit myself to portables like the 4/75cx. That and space contraints. Tis tempting though; hope you get that SSD/HDD situation sorted.

[JP]

That is reassuring.

One thing, though, is that I might want to replace my boot drive at the same time. If everything else is the same, do you think that it would accept the fresh new hard drive?

That would be fine. I upgraded to a larger SSD not too long ago. Not sure how it works if you change out something like a motherboard though. Also when you install Windows 10 there is a prompt to enter a key but you would skip this step and once online it will activate itself.